The present invention is directed to a pivoting roll-out wheel for pipe welding and related operations. In particular, a manual roll-out wheel that not only rotates about an axis, but pivots so as to selectively raise and/or lower a pipe being worked upon.
Roll-out wheels are known in the art for facilitating pipe welders in working around the circumference of a pipe or other object having a perimeter. Pipe welders typically perform many tasks on pipes, including welding, joining, grinding, buffing, removing coatings, and other related tasks. The object being worked upon is typically cylindrical and is mounted on a rotating hand wheel such that the object is co-axially disposed with the axis of rotation of the hand wheel. The object may come in shapes other than cylindrical, but cylindrical shapes would roll best in the device.
Such prior art roll-out wheels typically are large, bulky and tied to a fixed location as a manufacturing facility or other physical work space. Very often they require electricity or some other form of energy input to operate motors or other movement functions. Traditional, fixed roll-out devices are preferably adapted for mass production facilities where multiple pieces of identical dimensions are being prepared. The restrictions of such fixed roll-out devices would slow down work progress at job sites where individual or few pieces of particular dimensions must be made. In such cases, measurements would have to be made and transported back to the facility for implementation on the work piece. If the measurements are off or implemented incorrectly, requiring that the work piece has to be remade, such would often not be discovered until the piece is delivered to the job site, which further delays the completion of the project.
Accordingly, there is a need for a roll-out wheel that is more compact, less bulky, and easily transportable so as to allow for mobile roll-out wheel functionality at a job site or other location outside of a manufacturing facility. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.